GT Spectrum

Reports from the IT Horizon

ARLINGTON, Mass. -- As data warehouse usage increases, the private sector is discovering that implementing the technology is not problem-free

The Cutter Consortium recently conducted a study examining the role of data warehousing in corporate organizations across the globe, collecting responses from more than 142 companies.

"In our survey, we found that 41 percent of respondents say their organizations have experienced at least one project failure, and only 15 percent claim their data warehousing efforts to date have been a major success," said Curt Hall, a senior consultant. "Additionally, only 27 percent of overall companies indicated they feel 'confident' with data warehouse technology."

The survey also asked organizations if they have brought outside consultants or services firms to help revive a stalled data warehouse project; Hall said 38 percent of the companies indicated they had.

"Several vendors I've met with since the beginning of the year have told me their most important source of revenue now comes from helping companies get stalled projects going again," Hall said. "These findings, taken together, tend to dispute the talk of the day that companies have now achieved maturity in their levels of expertise with data warehousing technology." -- The Cutter Consortium

World's Longest Wi-Fi Connection Made

SOLNA, Sweden -- In January, Swedish Space Corp. (SSC) transmitted information via a broadband wireless link over a distance of 310 km, which they said they believe is the longest distance achieved using wireless connectivity.

The link was made between a stratospheric balloon launched from Esrange, which is near the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden, and a base station located near Esrange.

The balloon was outfitted with a special antenna connected to an amplifier with 6 watts of power output, a camera and a server.

Data -- including environmental conditions and weather patterns -- was collected and sent back to Esrange via the base station, which automatically tracked the antenna using GPS technology.

Information received at the base station was then sent back to Esrange via an internal network. The information between the balloon and the base station was transmitted over the 2.4 GHz (2480 MHz) spectrum with stable signal strength of -68 dBm.

The roundtrip ping response at 300 km was 300-500 mSec.

The weather balloon reached a maximum height of 29.7 km and drifted steadily. After traveling 315 km, it finally touched down east of Sodankyl